Abkhazeti, located between the Black Sea and the
Caucasus ridge, spread over the seacoast and mountainous
areas... From the time immemorial it was inhabited by people,
who kept farming, built... From the I Mill. B.C. onwards, tribes
and peoples living in Abkhazeti took part in the establishment
of the western Georgian kingdoms (Kolkheti, Egrisi-Lazika...),
together opposed the invaders, together lived side by side with
the Greek trade settlements and Romans, who had followed.
Later, when the Byzantians had abolished local statehood,
Leon, eristav (local ruler) of Abkhazs, initiated and succeeded
in the restoration of the western Georgian kingdom (that was
why it was called “Abkhazeti kingdom”), while in the 9th-10th
cc., his successors and heirs had greatly contributed to the
unification of Georgia and it was due to their efforts (together
with others) that the notion “Georgia” had emerged and “King
of Abkhazs...“ forever remained on the first place in the title of
Georgian kings.
As early as the 1st c. Abkhazeti was the area of preaching
of St. Apostle Andrew and St. Simeon Canaanite and its north
border became the burial place of St. Simeon. In the 3rd-4th cc.
Greek Episcopal Sees were established here. Further on, they
were subjected to the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople,
but kings of Abkhazs considered Mtskheta Apostolic Church,
Georgian Church as their own and in the 10th c. made their
kingdom a realm of its Catholicos-Patriarch, spiritually uniting
historic Georgia, which was followed by the political unification
of the entire country.
As usual, human life had left material traces on the
territory of Abkhazeti. Numerous remnants and old buildings
are preserved here – Bronze Age tombs, city-sites, fortresses,
bridges, palace-sites, churches... Some churches of Abkhazeti
had brought to us splendid works of sculpture, mural and
mosaic painting, among them, the earliest samples of the
Christian art in the entire South Caucasus. Over the centuries,
numerous manuscripts, crosses, icons, ecclesiastical objects,
either produced in the local scriptoria (e.g. in Mokvi, Bedia...
) and workshops or donated and brought from other regions of
Georgia or other countries were gathered in the cathedrals and
monasteries of Abkhazeti, testifying to the refined taste of their
donors and authors.
Inscriptions (Greek, but on the greatest part – Georgian)
preserved on the walls of historic buildings or in the mural
decorations bear evidence of many noteworthy historic events,
mention secular persons and clergy, revealing their activity for
the welfare of the country or in piety to the Lord, their strivings
and aspirations.
Everything preserved on the territory of Abkhazeti states
and confirms one major message: sharing achievements of the
neighbouring peoples, combined with their own initiatives and
artistic feeling, local inhabitants, despite their provenance,
were co-creators of the intrinsically diverse, but homogeneous
Georgian culture, even when, due to various reasons, our little
motherland was disintegrated and torn into pieces...
Samples of architecture, painting, metalwork and
inscriptions presented in this album are eloquent witnesses of
all these.
